Arnhem hero dies aged 98: Parachute veteran was shot and captured only to escape from prison camp
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A hero of the battle of Arnhem who was shot and captured, only to escape a prisoner of war camp and discover a secret German weapons test has died at the age of 98.
Paratrooper John Jeffries died in Richmond, North Yorkshire, on August 30, after a remarkable life that saw him serve his country in North Africa, Syria, Palestine, Italy and the Netherlands.
Mr Jeffries was born in Warrington, Lancashire in 1922, but grew up in an orphanage after both of his parents died.
In 1941, he joined the Royal Signals, but signed up for the parachute regiment after hearing about its formation.
He trained in Cairo and in 1994 was dropped into the Netherlands at the Battle of Arnhem, part of Operation Market Garden.
He was captured just a short while after trying to land, as a German sniper shot home in the buttocks during descent.
It was then his remarkable time in the military began, managing to escape, discover a top secret German experiment, only to be captured again and nearly killed by Russian women.
Battle of Arnhem paratrooper veteran John Jeffries died on August 30 at the age of 98. The wartime hero was captured shortly after dropping into the battle, but would quickly discover a secret German weapon experiment
Before he died he managed to carry out one final jump – three years ago at the age of 95.
He also had the chance to meet Prince Charles. They shared a conversation about which was the scariest way to jump and decided it was from a hot air balloon because the atmosphere was so still.
Mr Jeffries’ military service began in the Royal Signals, serving in Italy, North Africa, Syria and Palestine.
He later joined the parachute regiment, trained in Cairo and was dropped behind enemy lines at the Battle of Arnhem on September 18, 1944.
It was the second day of Operation Market Garden – which saw 35,000 parachutists and glider pilots drop into the Netherlands with plans to capture bridges and create a new route into Nazi Germany.
While descending into battle, he was shot in the buttock and landed on Ginkel Heath.
Mr Jeffries, who started the Second World War as part of the Royal Signals, served in Italy, North Africa, Palestine, Syria and the Netherlands
Mr Jeffries managed to escape a prisoner of war camp after regaining his strength by eatnig grass and weeds on top of a diet of cabbage or potato soup
His heavy wireless set landed on his ankle, leaving him unable to to move. As thick smoke burned around him, it looked as though his war was over.
Speaking last year, Mr Jeffries told the Daily Record: ‘I couldn’t get up. I had to lay there almost three quarters of an hour before medics came to pick me up.
‘I got shot coming down as I came out the plane.
‘I was bleeding quite profusely.’
However, the veteran’s life was reportedly saved by three Dutch girls who ran over to him and asked for his parachute to make dresses.
To his horror he then realised that he still had the secret codebook, printed on magnesium paper, that had been issued to wireless operators.
Behind the backs of his captors, he persuaded a smoking soldier to put his lit cigarette to the magnesium paper, which went up with a bang.
After four days on the floor of a filthy cattle truck without food or water, and with injured men dying around him, he went by train to Stalag XI-B in Lower Saxony.
In 2015 John Jeffries was able to carry out one last jump from an aircraft – at the age of 95
To his relief, he was given medical attention and prison clothing – he was still wearing the blood-encrusted uniform he’d been shot down in.
The prison doctor ripped out the pad which had been placed in his wound ten days earlier, causing immense pain.
He was reduced to eating grass and weeds to supplement the meagre diet of cabbage or potato soup and slowly regained his strength.
After escaping a prisoner of war camp, the paratrooper stumbled across the Germans’ secret Mistel experiment – a small, piloted plane above a large plane packed with explosives that the pilot would release and then guide, like a drone, to its target
When out on a route march, a pre-arranged fight broke out among the British prisoners to distract the guards, allowing Mr Jeffries and his friend, Sandy Powell, to make a break for it.
After four days on the run, they stumbled into a clearing in the forest.
It appeared to be a deserted German airfield, with planes stacked on top of each other.
Desperately tired, they fell asleep inside a plane, only to be awoken by members of the Luftwaffe pointing guns at them.
It was only after the war that they revealed they had stumbled upon the Germans’ secret Mistel experiment – a small, piloted plane above a large plane packed with explosives that the pilot would release and then guide, like a drone, to its target.
Back in prison, Mr Jeffries was set to work in a sugar factory, where he narrowly survived an attempted assault by female Russian prisoners of war who tried to push him into a vat of molasses.
He was liberated back to Lancashire, where he became an art teacher and met his wife, Mona.
The veteran met his wife Mona after returning to Lancashire and working as an art teacher
They teamed up so that John could teach at an “approved school” and Mona would be the housemother, and they crossed the Pennines to work at Richmond Hill School – the boys’ school in the former barracks in Gallowgate.
When that closed in 1982, he utilised his artistic skills to set up Rustic Crafts, making garden furniture and painting signs – his handiwork can be seen in the film A Woman of Substance and the TV series All Creatures Great and Small.
In later years, he volunteered at the Broadacre Able Day Centre in Colburn, run by his daughter, Lynn, and in 2016, wrote a book of his wartime exploits entitled A Spirit for Adventure.
About 15 years ago, he returned to Arnhem for the first time and in 2017, with the help of the Taxi Charity for Military Veterans and the Red Devils display team, he performed his first leap since 1944 at the Peterlee Parachute Centre.
Mr Jeffries said at the time: ‘It was absolutely fantastic – it was a mixture of fear and elation.’
A week later he repeated the feat at Arnhem as part of the 73rd anniversary commemorations of the operation where he also met Boris Johnson.
He was in Arnhem only last September for the anniversary where he unveiled the monument to the battle on Ginkle Heath.
He died on August 30, in Richmond, North Yorkshire surrounded by his family – his children Lynn and Paul and their partners, and his three grandchildren.
His daughter Lynn Tomkinson said: ‘Since he died, we’ve had hundreds and hundreds of messages from all over the world.
‘He would be so overwhelmed that so many people are making a fuss over him.’
His funeral will be next Thursday at 1.30pm at St Mary’s in Richmond.
Due to pandemic restrictions, only family members can attend, but it is hoped that standard bearers will be present outside.
Donations are requested in lieu of flowers for the Kumi Community Foundation in Uganda, which provides prosthetics for children.
It is hoped that a proper memorial service will be held next year.
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